October 19, Wednesday

This morning started out with a long walk and a few chases with Gracie. The cool morning put pepper in a her step and I could hardly keep up. My legs were much lighter and less tired. Later in the day, and it was an invigorating autumn afternoon, I set out on the Jackson roads to run a familiar 4 mile loop. Mile one was at modest 13 minute warm-up pace. As I progressed, running became smooth and comfortable and the last 3 miles were accomplished in 33:13. The final mile was a quick 10:40 pace. This was the most rewarding and effective distance run I have completed in many weeks. Gracie and I had a fun day.  

October 18

Put another brick in the wall.

Another day with heavy legs. I started out with my high school warm-up of 1000m, then stretch, then run 5×150m straightaways walking back for full recovery. That takes about 30 minutes. When I ran a couple of 400m gentle efforts with walking by that time my legs were beginning to feel a little bit lighter. I concluded the work out with a comfortable mile to bring the daily total to 3 miles 40 minutes. After this relatively low intensity workout my legs feel quite used up. This was true after yesterday’s very moderate 3 mile run as well. It appears that the cumulative affect of three 5K races in three weeks is greater than I anticipated. Regardless, I am determined to complete the six week series come what may. At the very least I should emerge from the adventure more fit than when I entered. Thompson Park on Saturday…..🤾🏿‍♂️

October  17,  Monday

It has been 17 days since my last post and that reality distresses me.  I will not try to analyze the reason right now.  But I am trying to figure out why I pass up so many days posting lately.   I do write a few words on my calendar each day. So, I know pretty much what I’ve been doing over the last 17 days. I guess the general feeling I have is that it’s not that interesting or that important or that meanful.  So, again I return to my original statement of purpose for writing this blog back in 2016.    It is simply a log of my training.  The fact that some of my friends read it and find it interesting makes me occasionally believe that it is some kind of literary piece.  I do try to wax elegant at times.

The 1st 17 days of October have been a bit stressful.  My left ring finger was fractured  on the second when Gracie pulled very hard on the leash as my hand was tangled.  A similar incident occurred about a year ago with the same finger. It was quite painful. Workouts from the 2nd to the 7th were just about non existent.  As a  result I had light legs and  ran and a pretty good race on October 8, at Wolf Hill Park. (28:10)   The week of October 9-15 was a completely different story. I worked  in the pool on Sunday and did some weights.  I did a workout  on the cinders of 4 progressive 800 meter intervals on Monday. I did 30 minutes of fartlek on the cinders  on Tuesday. On Wednesday I had a medical procedure scheduled  for my face, no workout. Thursday was 45 minutes on the machines in the exercise room. Friday I ran around Ocean County Park chasing the Jackson Liberty cross country team who were racing in the Ocean County Championship.  On Saturday I ran Race #3 of the Fall Cross Country Series at Holmdel Park.  My time of 31:03 was a disappointment.  I credit that performance to a week of pretty arduous training following the week of almost no training at all leadiing up to the race.  My legs have been quite sore since the event at Holmdel.  I did push through a tough 1st mile and finished very strong and confident even though the time was not what I hoped.  On Sunday I took a long walk with Arlene.  Today I ran 3 miles on the roads around my neighborhood in 37:55, legs still heavy.

I am  content with the realization that I have completed three of the six 5K races scheduled in the Fall Cross Country Series and my body is holding up without injury.  Forward  with positive training, better races and more consistent blogging .

Stats-

Weight – 144lb

Diet – 9

Sleep – 8/10 hours

HR – 54bpm

Legs and feet are not complaining!

Big Brook Park 5k today was wet, but the rain held off till after the race was over. It was overcast and 58° just about perfect for running. My time was a disappointing 30:14. I am not terribly surprised because the race worked out as I imagined it probably would. My first smile was in 8:25. At that time my legs and breathing were fine. I thought a quick time might be in order when I read that on my watch. Hills in the 2nd mile slowed the pace considerably. Yet I still felt OK entering mile number three with the hope of running a quicker final segment. To my dismay the final mile consisted of an unending series of rolling, hills up and down, some short and some much longer, which dampened my enthusiasm dramatically. I became so frustrated that I actually walked a few strides on one of the hills, something I never do. The final 400m was swift and controlled. I recovered quickly and ran a 1 mile cool down before the pouring rain started.

There are two takeaways from this event. One- I am not prepared to run hills. Two- I still am not yet aerobically conditioned for a 5K. I will try to resolve both those issues over the next five weeks.

I emerged from the event unscathed. But I will most likely have unhappy calves after running my first 5K in spikes.

September 23 -29

Friday, 23rd

50 mins in exercise room and pool    Easy work

Saturday, 24th

4 miles in 48:00 at Turkey Swamp Park plus 6 x 300m after

Sunday, 25th

Rest

Monday,  26th

3 miles on cinders in 36:00

Tuesday,  27th

Rest, very tired.  Crashed At 4pm!

Wednesday, 28th

3 miles on cinders 44:00  Tired legs

Thursday, 29th

Whirlpool and stretching

I hope my legs recover in time to run a decent 5K race on Saturday.

Stats are good.

But legs are tired. And body, too.  Lots of sleeping.

September 22,  Thursday

After a day of rest I decided to try for a few interval 1600m.   A long day of rain led me to conclude that the safest place to run would be the Jackson High School track.  The sun was breaking through the clouds as I did my warm-up. The somewhat ambitious goal was to try for three, maybe starting at  9:00 and getting down to the low 8:00 range.   I spiked up and headed to the starting line wondering how my legs would feel today.  I was looking for 400m at 2:15 on pace for my 9:00 goal.  The first 200m came up at :50 and the 400m was 1:45 while feeling quite comfortable.   That got me a little excited, so I pushed on at same effort level.  The 8:00 read 3:34 still feeling no distress.  Then I decided to go for it and rev it up on the next 400m.  At 1200m my watch read 5:31 and I knew it was going to be fast.  The final 400m was a serious push, and I finished 1600m in 7:33!  (3:34 and 3:59). I was quite shocked and completely satisfied that that was enough for today. I did follow it up with a 400m in 2:00  before I took off my spikes.  The workout ended with an 800m jog.    The relative ease with which I completed this 1600m effort has raised  my confidence in my current fitness level.  We will learn if this translates to a quality 5K race nine days from today.

STATS are good.

September 15 -18, Thursday thru Sunday

“My training was very simple and very primitive.”.    Emil Zatopek

Thursday, 45 minutes runninig and swimming in the pool.

Friday, Took a day off; feeling pretty tired.

Saturday,  I arrived at the Cinder track in early evening. The sun is starting to set much earlier these days.  I decided to to do a quick warm up and try for some 4:00 minute 800 repeats.. I did my high school coach, Bob Short’s warm-up.  We did it like clockwork everyday for 4 years. The team was ready to begin the workout when Coach Short arrived at the Lincoln park track from his day job. It’s a simple warm up. Jog a half mile and run 6 x 100yd straits with increasing intensity. Take plenty of time and fully recover after each effort. It was a very enjoyable social time for a group of high school boys after a day of school. Bob Short taught me about running and about how to  help young men enjoy working hard for a common goal.  I’m sure that is why I still love cross country and track relays. But I digress.

Next I stripped down (Another Coach Short rule; always warm-up with sweats on.) and ran 2 x  800m in 4:00 with 2 minutes rest. I was a little surprised at how comfortable I was hitting those times.  Darkness brought the workout to a close.  It’s pretty scary on the far side of the cinder track when night arrives. Positive work……

Sunday, It was hot and my legs were tired as I headed out on the road  in the early afternoon for what I hoped to be as much as a 3 mile run.  The road was shady and, as the run went on, my leg lightened up. So, the total became 4 miles in 47 minutes.  Working…….

Steady stats and no leg or foot issues.

September 12 & 14

A few more Bricks in the Wall

After successfully qualifying in the 800m and 1600m on Saturday, I completed two pretty strong runs at the cinders on Monday and Wednesday,

On Monday I covered 5 miles in one hour and three minutes with 15 speed segments throughout. My Garmin rated that workout as a five, overreaching, and I was pretty worn out and slept well that night.

On Wednesday at the cinders I ran a steady 3 miles. in 34:30. That was also quite draining, but only scored a three on the Garmin aerobic difficulty scale. Another good nights sleep……zzzzzzzzzz

Stats remain steady and positive with no foot or leg issues.

September 10th

After running 7:17 at the Monmouth Mile, I had four decent workouts interspersed with four days of rest.  At Woodbridge high school track I won the 800m division in 3:19. I was pleased with that time while running very relaxed and comfortable.  In the 1500m I was never stressed or pressed and easily won in an unimpressive time.  It was an enjoyable day reconnecting with running  buddies, former runners and family fans. I emerged  jury free and ready to resume training for cross country, indoors and spring NATIONALS in Pittsburgh

Aug. 23rd thru Sept. 2nd

Road and track

8/23-  30 minutes in pool

8/24- 20 minutes in pool

8/25- 3.6 miles at Turkey Swamp Park

8/26 and 8/27 – Rest for Jason’s 5k

8/28- Ran a comfortable 29:43 for 5k.  Added 2 extra miles in the evening at 9:55         and 9:35.

8/29- 2.4 miles with 7 x 30 second Speed Segments

8/30 and 8/31-  Rest for Monmouth Mile

9/1- Ran 7:17 for mile on an extremely warm evening- 88*

9/2- 6 x 200m on grass plus 2miles on road

Next competition will be New Jersey Senior games on September 10th, up at Woodbridge running both 800m and 1500m to qualify for National Senior Games in Pittsburgh in the spring.

Stats-

Weight – Steady at 145 pounds

Diet-  8/9.         Sleep- Steady at 9/10 hours

Heart rate is consistent at mid 50s resting

Survived both runs with no issues regarding legs or feet.